LETTER: Stop wealth being bestowed on a select handful - Business Day
The terms John Dludlu uses in his defence of BEE are quite revealing as to why there has been such a reluctance among many in the political elite to countenance any thought of reforming the policy (“Let’s talk about strengthening BEE,” June 4).
Dludlu seems to imply that BEE should remain in its current form because it has helped make some individuals fabulously wealthy, and that they have used their wealth to help black communities in some form of “trickle down” economics. As he says, “BEE cannot be blamed for SA’s worsening poverty, inequality and joblessness. Resolving these issues was never its primary objective.”
So is BEE just a rent-seeking tool to make some people rich? Dludlu’s slip also shows when he speaks of black “oligarchs” approvingly, rather than pejoratively. Oligarchs are a small group who hold power or exert influence, through their wealth or other advantage. Do we truly want to create oligarchs? Or live in an oligarchy rather than a democracy?
He talks about how people who have become rich through BEE deals have used their wealth to help uplift their communities. This may be true (although Dludlu provides no evidence for this), but if we want SA to change and for communities to be uplifted, economic growth is the only solution, not wealth being bestowed on a handful of connected individuals. The growth formula has worked across the world — if you want people to reach their potential and escape poverty, economic growth is the only solution.
The World Bank, among others, has identified BEE as a growth impediment. Work done by the Institute of Race Relations has also shown how BEE premiums in government procurement stand in the way of securing goods and services at reasonable rates — an outcome that harms black South Africans the most.
Marius Roodt
Institute of Race Relations